My Take: Race = happiness? Not on our watch

The story pitches it as a gift to parents, because it is: According to a poll by the AP and MTV Networks, teens and young adults aged 13-24 say their family makes them happiest.

Hooray!

Frankly, it’s not too surprising. I’ve been waiting for mainstream culture to recognize that today’s young people are very different from those who grew up in the ’60s or ’70s — more family and community oriented, more interested in world events, less individualistic.

But there’s bad news. One of the study’s findings should make us all wonder what’s going wrong:

Whites are happier — across economic categories — than either blacks or Hispanics.

I’m sorry — what?

It’s one thing for this to be true in older generations, who had to live in some pretty intolerant times. But we grew up with Sesame Street and the Proud Family and countless cultural indicators that different is good and we are all “special.” Shouldn’t we be past this by now?

But maybe it’s not latent discrimination, exclusively, that makes black and Hispanic teens feel less happy. Maybe they face different pressures from their families and friends, or are more likely to feel detached from a white-dominant society, despite all the ways that popular culture has at least tried to embrace difference. Maybe it’s still not enough.

One thing is clear. This generation of Americans is the most ethnically and racially diverse ever. If we’re going to function as a unified society in 10, 20, 30 years, we’d better make sure everyone has the same access not only to economic and educational opportunities, but also to plain old satisfaction.

If education, financial status, career and relationships with family and friends lead us to happier lives, that’s fine and good. They are all things we can — at least partially — control.

But gender, sexuality and race stand apart. If they, too, determine our attitudes toward life, that is a mark of an unequal society, a stain on our democracy and a sign that we still have a lot of work to do.

Does this finding surprise you? What do you think we could tweak to raise the next generation in a more equal society — politics? Popular culture? Community integration? What one change do you think could do the most good? And what barriers would have to be broken down?